Exxon Baytown refinery operates at reduced rates after blaze

One of the world’s largest integrated and technologically advanced refinery complexes in Baytown, Texas, continues to operate at reduced rates following a fire on December 23, US energy major ExxonMobil said in an update on Tuesday.

The unit involved in the blaze at the ExxonMobil facility in Baytown that houses a chemical plant, an olefins plant and a 560,500 barrels-per-day oil refinery remained shut down, the company said in a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The fire occurred at the facility’s Hydro-Desulfurisation Unit 1 at around 1am on Thursday, the filing said.

The blaze broke out in a unit called a reformer feed hydrotreater, according to Wood Mackenzie’s Genscape unit.

ExxonMobil has not yet determined the cause of the fire, but said it was continuing to empty the unit so it could safely enter the facility and assess the possible impact on production.

Founded in 1919, the Baytown refinery began operation in 1920 and the chemical plant started in 1940.

It is made of our manufacturing sites, including one in nearby Mont Belvieu, and a global technology centre. The refinery has the capability to process up to 584,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

The blaze comes as US oil stockpiles hit their lowest for this time of year since 2015. Gasoline futures, meanwhile, are at their highest seasonally in eight years. Prices rose 1.8% to settle at $2.2061 per gallon in New York.